There is a continuing need for improved devices and methods for supporting users in upright positions and postures to provide assistance with standing, ambulation and strengthening exercises related thereto. Some traumatic injuries or illnesses, for instance, can cause a person to become disabled with little to no use of one or more legs, feet, hips, spine or other such parts used in standing and walking. In those cases, ambulation or even the act of standing may not be achievable without assistance being provided to the user. Oftentimes, after extensive recovery periods, physical rehabilitation, strengthening and other such exercise is needed to improve or return standing or walking abilities to the injured person. The need to provide lift to those persons is greatest in cases where they cannot stand under their own power.
In the rehabilitation or strengthening process for disabled persons, it is also desirous to provide lifting assistance during exercise while at the same time permitting free use of other limbs for grasping objects, supports, weights, or generally so that the user can experience the most natural standing posture and freedom of movement possible. It is also desirous for the lifting support to be applied to the user in such a manner so as not to cause discomfort, as well as to further the goal of allowing free and natural movement when engaged with the device.
Some known devices incorporate a frame, or base structure, from which various support components depend to engagingly provide support to a user. Some frames are wheeled or otherwise provide a means for moving the device, thereby allowing the user to move about on a surface while being supported by the device. While such devices are useful in providing mobile standing and walking assistance and are free standing, such devices are disadvantageous in that they require large open spaces and smooth, even surfaces on which to rest. For users wishing to rehabilitate at home, many of the prior art framed, mobile and floor-supported devices require excessive room for home use, or use in any other situations in which space is limited. Furthermore, even where space is not so limited, bulky frames and structural components have the disadvantage of impeding free movement of the user's limbs, can make it difficult for others to move close to the body of the user when providing exercise assistance, and generally can reduce the user's experience by impeding vision, mobility and feelings of openness.
Other known configurations utilize harnesses and other multi-point support systems when engaging with a user in order to provide lifting assistance. Many of those devices combine a variety of engagement points with the user's body with the goal of increasing the comfort to the user resulting from the applied forces. For example, torso, legs, pelvic girdle and underarm supports have been used to distribute the lifting forces. However, while these known devices may advantageously increase user comfort, they tend to also exhibit the disadvantage of impeding free movement of a user's limbs, and may be cumbersome to some to wear in practice.
Furthermore, some of the known devices incorporate a seat portion that is detachable from a specialty wheeled chair that is compatible with the seat, for instance. While those types of devices benefit the user by incorporating the lifting forces into the chair being used by the user, it also has the disadvantage of limiting the seating devices available for use in that they must be compatible with the support system.
Other known devices have utilized only an underarm sling in engagement with the user to transmit lifting forces thereto. The use of an underarm sling is advantageous in that the user is provided with increased freedom of movement during exercise and because it is compatible with any chair or sitting device. Current known underarm sling configurations, however, present further obstacles and disadvantages. For example, some slings are constructed of hollow materials and filled with a gas or fluid in order to increase comfort to the user. This advantage creates the need for refilling and sealing means in the sling, make it more difficult to clean between uses and further introduces the potential for puncture, rupture and spills.
Many slings are also constructed at least in part of elastic material that allows the sling to stretch when placed through the underarms of a user and the user's weight applied. While this has been believed to increase comfort, there remains potential for chafing and irritation of the user's skin due to expansion and contraction of elastic slings during use, and do not provide adequate haptic feedback during exercise and rehabilitation exercises due to the elasticity of the sling.
Furthermore, there exists a need in the art for an exercise and support device that provides standing and ambulation assistance to a user that is easy to assemble and operate at low cost. Many devices in the prior art currently are bulky, cumbersome and expensive, thereby presenting a barrier to use for many persons in need of an assistive exercise device.
It is therefore an unmet need in the prior art for a device that supports a user, thereby providing standing and walking assistance, that is compatible with any chair or sitting surface from which the user may wish to stand, that does not require any ground-based structures, installations or other such obstacles, that permits maximum and natural freedom of movement to the user, that does not require a motor, winch, etc., that provides increased haptic feedback to the user, and is inexpensive and easy to use.